Abstract

The Next Generation of Environmental & Natural Resources Law: What Has Changed in 40 Years and What Needs to Change as a Result

September 28-29, 2012, at the University of Akron School of Law

Most U.S. statutes addressing problems relating to natural resources and the environment were drafted approximately 40 years ago. In addition to whatever imperfections these statutes may have had at the time, we now have four decades of change – changing technology, changing environmental harms and consequences, changing culture and global relationships. It is time to take stock of what we have, amendments and all, and consider whether we need to make more significant changes, not only to existing laws, regulations, and agency policies, but to fill some of the large gaps that have become more apparent over these decades. We need to begin to focus our proposals on what has changed over the years. We will meet this fall to discuss how things are different, how they are continuing to change, and how we can best address the environmental and natural resource issues of the future.

Saturday Panel Schedule:

Welcoming remarks by Kalyani Robbins, University of Akron School of Law

Rethinking Our Foundational Theories:

Moderated by Rebecca M. Bratspies, CUNY School of Law

Robin Kundis Craig, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law: The Death of Sustainability as an Environmental Goal: Climate Change, Principled Flexibility, and Definitional Headaches

Arthur F. McEvoy, Southwestern Law School: Environmental Law and the Collapse of New Deal Constitutionalism

Michael Burger, Roger Williams University School of Law: New Narratives in Environmental Law

What’s Next in Natural Resources Management:

Moderated by John Copeland Nagle, University of Notre Dame Law School

Eric Biber, Boalt Hall School of Law, U.C. Berkeley: The Role of Adaptive Management in the Future of Environmental Law

Keith H. Hirokawa, Albany Law School: Aligning Regulation with the Informational Need: Ecosystem Services and the Next Generation of Environmental Law

Denis Binder, Chapman University School of Law: 350 Years of Resource Exploitation Followed by 40 Years of Environmental Protection: Which is the Future?

New and Creative Regulatory Schemes:

Moderated by Federico Cheever, University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Albert Lin, U.C. Davis School of Law: Environmental Power to the People

Douglas R. Williams, Saint Louis University School of Law: Toward Regional Governance in Environmental Law

Jessica Owley, SUNY Buffalo Law School: The Increasing Privatization of Environmental Law: An Efficient Allocation of Resources and Expertise or a Shirking of Governmental Duties?

Robbins, Kalyani, Symposium: The Next Generation of Environmental & Natural Resources Law: What Has Changed in 40 Years and What Needs to Change as a Result – Introduction (September 25, 2013). Akron Law Review, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2295703